winter? good afternoon. i'm pat lawson muse. >> i'm jim handly. we're crossing our fingers today. this is the question everybody has been asking for weeks now. here's how the trees look. >> today we found out just when the cherry blossoms are expected to reach their peak bloom. news 4's megan mcgrath has the story. >> reporter: bruce and his dog pilot took a walk around the tidal basin this morning looking at the small buds already on the trees. he thinks the blossoms may come early this year. >> it's going to be real early, real early, yeah. got a good chance of it. >> but is he right? that remains to be seen. what happens over the next few weeks is critical. in his preliminary bloom prediction the chief housing authori authority -- horticulturist said -- >> sometime between march 24th and march 31st. >> reporter: if the prediction

holds it means plenty of blossoms for the first part of the festival depending on the weather they can last between 10 and 18 days. >> i think 70% so you come two days later at 100% does it really -- it's the period of blooming that's important for people coming into town. that's why i hate to give one day. >> reporter: the festival is always a big deal in washington but this year is particularly important. it's the 100th anniversary of the gift of trees from the city of of tokyo to mark the occasion the festival has been extended from two weeks to more than five. >> r >> robert defayo will keep a close eye on the weather and says there might be minor tweaks in the forecast but he doesn't expect major changes. in northwest, megan mcgrath, news 4. our website has everything you need to know to enjoy the festival including how to get around and where to get the best view. visit nbc washington.com and

search, cherry blossoms. so is this year's peak bloom earlier than usual? >> >> meteorologist veronica johnson is in storm center 4 with more on that and the possibility of storms in our forecast. >> those storms in the near future should not affect the blossoms at all. we took a look back. of course you heard robert defeo say this year they expect peak bloom between march 24th and 31st. the earliest ever, march 17th, back in 2000. the latest ever, april 11th. so here we are with our peak bloom expected to be just seven days after the earliest ever. and earlier than average for sure. out there today certainly we weather was the main topic of conversation. i think for most people especially those working inside today because we were all going, you know? i'd love to be outside. up to 70 degrees in some neighborhoods down south. 67 currently at reagan national

airport. we we have a light breeze outside out of the northwest at 13 miles per hour but sure feels good all through the area. 61 mount airy. 66 currently in manassas and fairfax. fa falls church to 73 degrees currently down in fredericksburg, virginia. hello to you folks down there. sure wish i was visiting today. 52 at 9:00 this evening with a few clouds around but again talking about the possibility of some storms. i'll show you where the storms will be building tomorrow and what our chances are of seeing some later this weekend. pat? jim? >> thanks, veronica. more severe weather is heading to the midwest. it is still struggling today to clean up after a series of tornadoes killed at least a do dozen people and destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses. >> seven states reported tornadoes on wednesday. one of the hardest hit areas, southern illinois. nbc's jay gray reports from the town of harrisburg. >> >> reporter: they are the sounds

of survival in harrisburg. chain saws, front loaders, r tractors. ot others gathering what they can by hand, still many here cannot clear away the houaunting image of yesterday's deadly storm. >> i heard a crackling sound, a big light, and then a big explosion. >> reporter: charles turner's o% reporter: charles turner's home was leveled. he a he and his wife were swept up in the debris and thrown 50 feet. >> once i woke up i got to hollering for her. she was crawling out from un underneath the dryer. >> reporter: a day after, looking at this twisted and mangled mess, it is hard for many to believe it all happened p in the blink of an eye. >> people have said it lasted 32 seconds but it seemed like it was 32 minutes. >> reporter: survivors who un understand even with all that's happened here they are the lucky ones. at least a dozen people died as tornadoes ripped across five states. si six of those victims in the tight knit community of harrisburg. >> we haven't had any fatal tornadoes since 2004. that's why today is a sad day.

people who are here 24 hours ago are in heaven today. >> reporter: while this grieving o community sifts through the hell 180-mile-per-hour winds left behind. >> i'm nervous, shaky, tired. it's -- i just don't even have words for everything that you feel. >> reporter: but then there's no not much that can be said here. a battered town working to recover and now worried about the latest forecast that includes the possibility of another round of powerful storms as early as tomorrow. >> we do not want to go through this again and we will do everything we can to protect our people. > >> reporter: many, who are already struggling to survive. the national weather service considers the threat of storms so serious they've already moved a severe weather expert into the region hoping to provide as early a warning as possible to this already battered community. in in harrisburg, illinois jay gray, news 4. less than an hour from now

maryland governor martin o'malley will sign a bill making his state the eighth in the country to legalize gay marriage. the the law is set to go into effect january of 2013. opponents are working overtime now to get the issue on the november ballot. yesterday the state board of elections approved petition drafts filed by the maryland marriage alliance. they need 56,000 signatures to force a referendum. another battle in election year culture wars played out today in the capitol. on the left the white house and senate democrats. on the right, congressional regimes. at at issue today was president obama's controversial policy regarding health care coverage for contraceptives. nbc's steve handelsman has the l latest. >> reporter: senate democrats saved the obama birth control plan. >> the ayes are 51, the nays 48. >> reporter: after republicans failed to kill it. >> a sad example of election year politics.

>> reporter: hospitals and universities run by religious organizations will have to include contraceptives free as part of employee health care coverage. even if they're catholic organizations. >> it's a moral and religious s issue that should not be in interfered with by the federal government. >> >> reporter: mitt romney opposed the republican rollback yesterday then switched. >> and that violates the conscience of the church, the conscience of the individuals, and, fortunately, there is an effort in washington to stop that. > >> reporter: rick santorum po pounced. >> >> my gut reaction would be, you stand for the first amendment. you stand for freedom of re religion. >> reporter: democrats say they stood for women. >> these men are waxing eloquent about birth control and the fact that oh, it's just a moral issue with them. they don't think women should ave have the right to have it. >> reporter: they see a winning political issue for the fall. >> we will make sure that women across the country are aware. >> that we the democratic caucus will stand up to fight for their

rights as we always have. >> >> reporter: president obama say if democrats struck the right balance and won the right to have it stick. and he will take credit on the campaign trail. re republicans said they will warn americans that president obama wa wants to tell them what religion to to practice. i'm steve handelsman, news 4, capitol hill. republican senator olympia snowe of maine was the only senator to cross party lines. she voted against the amendment. snowe announced earlier this week she isn't going to run for re re-election and says she is frustrated by the fiercely partisan atmosphere that currently pervades politics. > police say a violent act may have been avoided at a school in leesburg. th they say a student from simpson middle school wrote a suspicious message on a social networking site. po police intervened and determined th the child was in need of psychiatric help, which he is now getting. coming up on news 4 at 5:00

er erika gonzalez will tell us how a fellow student might have prevented a very dangerous situation. students in chardon, ohio were back at school today for the first time since three students were shot to death. the teenager accused in the shooting, t.j. lane, has been charged with three juvenile counts of aggravated murder. nbc's michelle franzen has more. >> reporter: in a walk of solemn solidarity students returned to chardon high school three days after a lone gunman killed three students and seriously injured two others. the school superintendent greeted students with hugs. >> you all right? >> reporter: and parents in the community showed support as teens walked into the school. >> it's kind of a bunch of mixed emotions. it' it's sad but then great that we could have like everybody here. p> >> reporter: a tough day for students coping with the loss of their friends. 16-year-old daniel parmetur, 17-year-old russell king, and 16-year-old dmitryus huland. >> it's going to be different.

i usually see them in the hallways and their smiles and laughter and everything. it's just not going to be there anymore. >> reporter: meanwhile, family members of the victims spent the morning remembering their loved ones. >> >> he was going to change the world. he was an amazing individual. >> reporter: dmitryus's mom phyllis shared her pain. >> most of all i'll miss his hugs and kisses. >> authorities say the shooter was waiting for a bus to vocational school when he opened fire on students in the cafeteria. now as students try to make sense of the violent act, they are also learning how to lean on each other. > >> to feel the love that there is here lets you realize that this past week nobody is a stranger. everyone is part of the same family. > >> reporter: michelle franzen, nbc news.

>> when we come back this afternoon on news 4 at 4:00 google making major changes today to privacy. ha what you need to do to keep the internet giant from tracking your searches and linking them to your name. >> but i think i need to go through the process of proving myself, you know. lindsay lohan says she is ready for a comeback and will even make fun of herself on "saturday night live" this weekend. and a royal shopping trip

"access hollywood" test. "access hollywood" test. "access hollywood" test. "access hollywood" test.

actress lindsay lohan says ps she is ready to prove herself and she is serious about getting her acting career back ontrack. >> yes. she is in new york preparing to host "saturday night live" and sat down with matt lauer. lohan says she is clean and sober but understands some producers may not be ready to invest in her. she says she had to lobby the snl boss to get the hosting gig this week. she told the writers anything is fair game as long as they are not disrespectful of the judge who presided over her long running legal case. >> do you think people can get back to the point where they trust you? you know, if they say come host

"saturday night live" that is a bi big commitment and do you think th the producers and directors will get back to where they go we can count on lindsay and bank on her. >> i think that takes time and it's actions because people can say things all they want but i think i need to go through the process of proving myself, you know, with "snl" being on time, keeping my -- can't say the word -- but stuff together. i am really lucky because loren michaels has been supportive of me. i e-mailed him and kind of was harassing him to meet with me and let me do the show. he believes in me. it's a process and i am willing to go through that process and prove i can be accountable. >> it will be lohan's fourth turn at hosting "snl" and you can see the show on saturday night at 11:30. >> >> if she is not late. sh she has to be on time. is that what she said? >> she said she is going to be there.

>> it's a live show. >> madonna's name game, bristol palin's return to tv, and beyonce's new gig. >> time for hollywood headlines with georgia alfredes cohost of the russ par morning show heard weak days on 93.9 wkys. of course, georgia, beyonce is no one hit wonder except she's now got a show in which she is. >> well, she is attached to this new project put together by the writer of "glee" and it's beyonce, her best friend gwenyth paltrow, and reese witherspoon also supposedly and cameron diaz. th they'll play one hit wonders who form this super group to become unone hit wonders if that makes any sense. i think it should be, you know, he knows about music so i would love to see beyonce on the big screen again. >> >> some star power there. >> i'm excited about that. >> and gwenyth paltrow has a %> and gwenyth paltrow has a great voice too. > >> she does. >> she sang at the grammys. >> very talented. >> so what's in a name?

fo for madonna it could be a lawsuit? >> yeah. she had this single on her new cd which comes out in march. called "girls gone wild." bi bill francis the creator of the videos "girls gone wild" sent her a cease and desist letter so they changed the name to "girl gone wild" but madonna's people r%ne wild" but madonna's people are like, ha, ha, ha. we never even got that letter. we changed it because of the way madonna sings the song. we changed it to "girl gone wild" and changed lots of stuff in in the album that has nothing to do with joe francis. i don't know if i believe it but i find it funny she found it amusi m amusing. she is like who is joe francis? >> don't flatter him. >> >> right. >> we know more now about purported wardrobe malfunction jennifer lopez had on oscar night. >> >> i watched the whole thing and i never saw any wardrobe malfunction, any slippage. but, you know, they say there a was something. now cameron diaz who was a copresenter with her, said, no. it was maybe a shadow. she saw the sticky tape so

nobody, when you put it this to bed now, nobody saw j-lo's goodies except i guess there's diddy and ben affleck. >> >> the list goes on. >> her new boyfriend. i i digress. >> >> you would bring all those up. >> wow. we we don't have enough time. is that what you're saying? >> >> yeah. george clooney is facing rumors an and says he is okay with that. >> he has been dodging rumors of people saying he's gay forever. he's like what would i look like if i came back and said i'm not gay? that would be unkind to my gay friend. you can say i'm gay. people can say it forever. i don't give a [ bleep ]. >> call him what you will. >> yeah. who cares? he's george clooney. >> there is a new reality facing bristol palin. >> >> the funny thing is they wanted to do a show on bristol palin. it didn't happen. it was supposed to happen last summer.

now lifetime has picked up ten episodes of a new reality show. of course it'll probably feature her mom sarah and the rest of the palins but it is her as a single mom trying to raise her son. it should be interesting to see if the baby's father is on this show. he hasn't said very nice things about the palins in the press. i wonder if he'll surface on the show at all. >> >> i am already forgetting his name. >> i was hoping you wouldn't bring it up because i can't remember. > >> but he'll be back. his 15 minutes may be up. we'll be tuning in tomorrow morning. >> please do. >> thank you. well, imagine living two lives in one life your spouse has died in a car crash but your son survived. >> in the other your son was killed but your spouse is alive. detective michael briton bounces %etective michael briton bounces between the two realities in the e new nbc drama "awake." >> i'm awake with my wife and i l close my eyes. i open them and i'm awake with my son. > >> i can assure you, detective briton, this is not a dream.

what? >> it's exactly what the other shrink said. >> actor jason issacs plays the lead role and says anyone with a family will be moved by this unusual story line. >> it's very emotional. you know, and there's a lot of character stuff in it. there is no question that you're inside my heart and my head but it is also true that i'm a man who likes to fix things and not think about himself too much. i go to work because what else am i going to do, stay at home? i go to work and solve crimes al all the time and the fact that i have this vivid dream life helps me solve crimes. >> "awake" premieres tonight at 10:00 here on nbc 4. we have been looking forward to this. i set my tebow tonight. it has some interesting twists. >> it looks like it's going to %> it looks like it's going to be a pretty good show. >% coming up on news 4 at 4:00 they call her the black madame. a woman arrested and accused of illegally injecting women's back

sides. t it is not the first time she's go gotten in trouble for doing th that. >> and he brought his leg up and kicked me. >> two nurses speak out today accusing a kennedy of assaulting th them because they wouldn't let him take his newborn out of the hospital. >> and for all your news be sure to follow news 4 online. just search nbc washington on facebook and twitter.

hello, spring. >> right. mi jim says i'm the one today. >> you are. >> i'm the one. >> sing that song. >> yes. big old star, too. >> >> right. yeah. so nice. awesome outside. folks were coming up with excuses just to go outside. i think i have to pay a bill. i think i got to go to the post office. some something in my car. >> exactly. or today i'm going to go out and get lunch. >> and not come back. p >> crazy nice today. i know. and happy spring. that's right. it's meteorlogical spring. starts today. yo your months, march, april, and may. as as we look outside a very pristine, pretty, good feeling day. te temperatures today in the 60s

and even in the mid 70s down south at a few neighborhoods around stafford, fredericksburg wh where currently we're at 67 degrees. re reagan national airport. yo your wind, 13 miles per hour. we've had a little dry breeze coming through the area hoping to dry things out from all that rain that we got yesterday. 53 up to the north in hagerstown. 67 67 here. 73 culpepper. 73 degrees also around fredericksburg and 71 there at pax river with that west wind. as far as the evening goes by 9:00 still ice outside. 52 your temperature. 50 at 11. then into the 40s by early tomorrow morning. lo look at what was going on just to the north of us. temperatures in the 30s. wilkes barre to pittsburgh in the 30s just over the maryland line because they've been socked in with clouds. th the rest of the storm system is pulling away delivering about 3 to 6 inches of snow around the boston area, still snowing there. pn now we're going to talk about th the risk of more severe weather. in the midwest the south getting a reprieve today. storms are going to fire friday right into this area and then by

the time we get to saturday they'll start pulling eastward. there is the front. the next weather system more warm air for us with rising temperatures again friday night after a pretty decent day. storms are going to start build wg wg that warm front, too. i think by the afternoon rush on friday. moderate risk zone means areas from kentucky through tennessee, pa alabama, and mississippi will have to watch out for the possibility of tornadoes on saturday. we could see a few storms noichi inching into the maryland area around virginia. with the storm system moving faster by saturday afternoon, we are turning partly sunny i think and it will get a little breezy around here again for your weekend. so just gorgeous outside for the evening. 57 to 64 degrees. your winds out of the southwest at 10 to 20. nice morning, too. 33 to 40 degrees. then for tomorrow afternoon we take it up to 61 degrees. not quite 70. and again, keep in mind now we're talking about the storms moving in earlier so this time tomorrow some storms around the

area and even saturday morning as you can see a 50% chance for tomorrow afternoon. a 70% chance for saturday morning. that means likely and then we cool it off for the second half of the weekend, guys. sunday right now partly sunny. i think i'll try to escape and ge get out of here for my next weather hit. > >> all right. >> >> we'll be looking for you. >> thanks, veronica. coming up, do wealthy people feel entitled to break the rules? how your car could affect your driving habits. >> we'll be all right. we're just standing too long. give them a little space. [ female announcer ] with xfinity,

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welcome back, everybody. at 4:30 i'm jim handly. >> i'm pat lawson muse. here is a look at our top stories at this hour. we now know the best time to catch the cherry blossoms this year. he they're going to be in peak bloom from march 24th through march 31st. the festival starts march 20th and goes through the 27th of april. this year marks the 100th anniversary that japan gave the trees to washington, d.c. >> at 5:00 tonight governor martin o'malley will sign a bill legalizing gay marriage. maryland is the eighth state that will recognize same sex unions. th this bill is set to go into effect next january.

opponents are collecting signatures to force a referendum on the law in november. the senate today blocked a republican bid to overturn president obama's new policy on insurance coverage for contraceptives. republican leaders say the policy is an attack on religious freedom. democratic leaders say the move to overturn the policy is an attack on women's rights. three generations of royals st stepped out for a little shopping in london today. >> the event marked the first time queen elizabeth, camilla parker bowles, and kate middleton carried out official duties together. nbc has the story. >> reporter: a luxury grocery store the venue of choice for a ro royal first. three generations of royals doing for british produce what kate has done for british fashion. he her majesty wanted a day out with her sons and grandson's wives.

>> the queen couldn't have been ha happier frankly at buckingham a palace last year for the royal wedding seeing william happily marrying kate, a girl she likes, she respects, she sees kate as a very good influence on william, a great thing for the royal family. >> r >> reporter: a unique time for the queen and her two duchesses. how different from princess diana's day when diana thought camilla a rottweiler. as for camilla and the monarch they're on better terms, too. past tensions pushed aside. and kate seems to be a bonding force, even with diana's ring on her finger. with william away on service and kate tirelessly working the solo royal circuit, she's carved a fine role for herself with the mo more experienced women there to guide her through it. the queen never had an outing with diana so this is really significant. it's the monarch's way of bringing kate in closer and making her feel at home. back to you. we'll go now to president ab obama who is speaking at the

wh white house. he he is speaking before a crowd in new hampshire where someone in the audience apparently fainted earlier. >> >> it is good to be back in new hampshire. >> oh, someone -- okay. we'll be all right. they probably were just standing too long. u just give them a lite space. >> the president was at community college earlier to ta talk about energy policy. m%lk about energy policy. emts immediately came to the spectator's aid. the president joked it was important to eat before you come to to a presidential event because you may be standing for a long time. police in philadelphia have arrested a woman they say was giving women illegal injections to enhance their rear ends. >> do you have anything to say about the allegations you are the lone person of interest in h the case? >> my legal team will be

handling everything. p> >> police say they arrested paj i winslow as she prepared to host a pumping party. she is being held on $10 million bond. police seized vials of super glue, needles, gloves, and other items. she allegedly told police she was injecting her clients with silicon to enhance their rear ends. police say she would inject her l clients then cover the wound with glue. they're also investigating her possible connection to the death of a foreign tourist last year. a police spokesman says she'll likely be charged with murder if the medical examiner determines e her injections caused that death. a setback for proponents of graphic warning labels on cigarette boxes. a judge blocked a federal requirement that would have forced tobacco companies to pr print the warnings starting later this year. cigarette companies fought the labels saying they would overpower the branding of their product. the fda argued that conveying the dangers of smoking outweighs the company's free speech rights but the judge agreed with

tobacco makers ruling that the images do violate free speech. >> the notion greed is good from the film "wall street" may have so some truth when it comes to the well to do. a study at uc berkeley finds rich americans are more likely to cheat at gambling and negotiating and endorse unethical behavior at work. they're also four times as likely to cut someone off at a four way stop sign and three times more likely to cut off a pedestrian. at the same time, the study also found that nonrich people admit they'd act the same way if they ever became healthy. >> there is more to come on news 4 at 4:00. google's new privacy changes start today. we'll explain how they work and how you can keep your internet searches from being linked to o your name. >> i find myself sometimes crying for no reason. and then i remember, he gave me that reason. >> nurses say rfk's son attacked

them during a confrontation at a hospital. wh what they say you couldn't see

i like those tunes. ready to dive in to today's daily deals? >> yes indeed. if you ever wanted to try scuba diving but thought you had to go to the beach check out groupon.

pay $25 or so. >> oh, yeah. and then you can learn from the pros at quantico scuba in northern virginia. your purchase includes the equipment you need to get acquainted and learn the basics of breathing under water. located along the potomac quantico scuba offers a number of classes for all different kinds of skill levels. >> that sounds like a lot of fun. n and when you're done, you can load up with a burger on living social. pay ten bucks and get $20 at cheburger in montgomery county with five sizes and unlimited free toppings. more than 5,000 hungry people have picked up on that deal. >> and they've just got endless combinations of what you can do with a burger apparently. >% >> that's what we understand. he eats there all the time. >> all right. coming up on news 4 at 4:00 a lot more to come. we'll tell you how easy it was for a man to get his dog registered to vote. and veronica will be back to tell us how long we'll have all [ clanking ]

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contact the verizon center for customers with disabilities call 1.866.solutions. at 800-974-6006 tty/v. that's 1.866.solutions. only from verizon. % well, veronica liked her forecast so much she is out in it now on a front lawn. just how nice is it? tease us, veronica. > >> it's this nice, jim. everybody is walking a round wi with short sleeves and short pants on today. i figured i might as well do the same because i haven't gotten enough time to be outside today.

but it sure feels nice. we expect a fantastic evening. i saw somebody tweet today if this is what spring is going to be like i sure hope it sticks around for a long time. let's take a look outside. there's a little bit of a light breeze blowing with pretty blue skies up there for your evening forecast. it is going to be breezy. our temperature right now at 67 degrees. th there is your wind at 13 miles per hour. so some occasional gusts at 20 but once the sun sets, that wind is going to be diminishing. your good night wakeup forecast with temperatures throughout the area there we are going to be dropping down tonight heading on down into the 30s and 40s. 35 to about 40 degrees right inside the beltway. we're going to be waking up with a mostly clear sky and then we'll start to pick up some clouds tomorrow. your high temperature for tomorrow between about 58 and 62 degrees. now, let me take you through your future weather. because it looks as though the storms are going to be moving in

a little earlier. originally yesterday it looked li like the storms would be hitting our area about 6:00. now it looks like it is going to be a little earlier around 3:30 to 4:00 tomorrow afternoon. some showers and storms spreading in for the evening rush. the afternoon and evening rush as as well as through the overnight. bu but that means then that those storms are probably going to be kicking out of here a little earlier on saturday. there is the snap shot at 5:00 a.m. you can see the shading of yellow and orange down to the south. probably a few thunderstorms with us early saturday morning. so maybe a little rough for anybody who is flying out of town or trying to get out of to town that there may be some delays at the airports. then on saturday, a clearing sky. we'll be left with partly sunny conditions and temperatures getting up into the 50s. here's a look at your -- actually 60s and falling. 60 degrees the high for tomorrow. 65 65 and probably falling temperatures for saturday. sunday highs in the 50s. so back to sunshine on sunday. most of next week, we'll see te temperatures in the 40s. a little cooler on monday. let's look at the extended

forecast for tuesday, wednesday, an and thursday of next week. we'll see climbing temperatures by the end getting back into the 60s and those upper 70s may be not far off. again, it is spring, guys. >> all right. th that sun is blinding. >> it is. >> thanks, veronica. > >> you wear spring well. >> >> thanks, guys. >> all right. pb before you log on and go searching google rolled out a new policy today that gives it even more access to your personal information. >> google says the goal here is to make your searching more useful but critics are crying foul. cn cnbc technology correspondent john forte joins us live with details. ell tell us about these changes and how they're going to affect h those of us who use google. >> well, pat, i have the privacy policy right here, quite interesting reading. not really. but what this is, a one unified policy that goes across all of google services. the key difference here is now they can take your search history and your youtube history

and combine it with all the other things they know about you. co considering the breadth of google's services that's a lot of things. they've got g mail. they know who you're e-mailing. they've got phone services so th they might know who you're calling based on maps. they know what sort of locations you like. if if you have an android phone they might know who you are. all of that could be combined as they give you services. >> so why did google make these changes, john? is this policy legal? >> well, on why they did it, jim, first of all, they like simplicity. so this is one policy. from a business standpoint it lets them combine more data and crunch that data to know more about you which helps from a bu business standpoint. and also to provide services a little bit more smoothly which is the pitch they make to consumers for why it's good. on whether it's legal, it is being challenged in other countries and even lawmakers he here in the u.s. have raised questions about whether this makes it easy to do identity theft if someone should hack google. nothing has been determined

ab about whether this is exactly legal or not. >> so a lot of people obviously will be very concerned about their privacy. can you just opt out of this? >> well, you can't exactly opt out. th there are some ways around it. there are some services out there like one called abine that o you can use to block tracking on various services. you can also log out of google services when you're doing various things. if you're surfing the internet and you don't want google to know what you are looking at log out of g mail, do things like that. lo log out of youtube. bu but you can also have a couple di different google accounts. you can try that so that one you use for some activities another for others. google has ways of combining that information and knowing you're using the same computer. even then they get a sense of what you're doing. >> all right. big brother just got bigger. cnbc's john forte thanks so much for taking time with us. we appreciate it. >> thanks, john. >> good to be with you. coming up on news 4 how you can get tickets to the white

ho house easter egg roll this year. and coming up in about 20 minutes the jury comes back quickly this afternoon with a verdict in the murder trial of a 17-year-old woman. p> also ahead the hot talk in traffic court. why some drivers had to pay for speeding while a council member received just a warning. then tonight at 6:00 a new effort to start the school year before labor day in virginia gets killed in committee and a fairfax county lawmaker played a big role in [ male announcer ] are you paying more and more for cable and enjoying it less and less? stop paying for second best. upgrade to verizon fios and get tv, internet and phone for an incredible price: just $89.99 a month for two years with a two-year agreement. it's an amazing deal, but it's for a limited time only. so don't wait. want to save even more? call right now and we'll add a special bonus: $300 back. unlike cable, fios delivers a 100% fiber-optic network to your home.

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the lottery for tickets to this year's white house easter egg roll is now open. you have between now and monday at 10:00 a.m. to enter. go to recreation.gov to sign up. tickets are free and cannot be so sold. this year's theme is let's go. let's play. let's move. it will focus on promoting phe health and wellness. the white house easter egg roll will be on monday, april 9th. more than 35,000 people are expected to attend. t that's a lot. >> fun for the young and the old. >> a 3-year-old labrador retriever is registered to vote in new mexico. this is buddy. buddy is a democrat now. he is also part of a plan that reveals just how easy it could be be to register a bogus voter in

kirk kis albuquerque. his owner said he wanted to register buddy to vote just to see what happened and with a ma made up social security number and birth date, buddy's registration card still came in th the mail so the dog can vote. his owner says he never planned to vote under buddy's name but just wanted to prove a point. i think he's made that point. >> buddy may do it. can you see him in there pushing those buttons with his paws? >> let's hope not. coming up on news 4 at 4:00 a hospital confrontation caught on surveillance video. we're hearing from the nurses who say they were roughed up by rfk's son. >> and for all your news be sure to follow news 4 online. u just search nbc washington on facebook and

"access hollywood" test. "access hollywood" test. "access hollywood" test. "access hollywood" test. robert kennedy is charged with endangering the welfare of a child after an incident involving two nurse whos tried to to stop him from taking his newborn baby out of the hospital. >> now the nurses are speaking out. jonathhnathan detaineeienst has > >> that man assaulted me for doing my job. >> >> reporter: the nurse is still upset over her run-in with douglas kennedy while carrying his 3-day-old baby. she says kennedy twisted her

arm, and her fellow nurse was there too. >> i >> i wanted to be sure the baby was safe and secure and he brought his leg up and kicked me and i went flying through the air down into the corridor about five or six feet i think. >> reporter: the nurses say kennedy's efforts to take his baby boy off the maternity ward floor was in violation of hospital policy. fearing an accident the nurses say they repeatedly asked kennedy to stop carrying the baby around the hallways. >> this was just the most i ridiculous nightmare that could be happening, for a man to be trying to take the baby off the unit in any way possible he could for something as wild as a breath of fresh air in the middle of winter. >> the nurses say he headed for a a stairwell and things turned ugly. ou out of camera range they say

kennedy fell on the stairwell with his newborn in his arms. >> petrified the baby is going p to go flying down a whole flight of stairs head first. >> kennedy was arrested last week on a misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child charge and violence related violations. ke kennedy and his wife blame the two nurses, saying, it's sickening to think our simple desire to take our son outside for fresh air has been warped into a charge of child endangerment. kennedy's lawyer says it was the nurses who were out of line and voiced anger over the release of this tape. the nurses continue to violate the hipaa privacy rules. this is very serious. and the kennedys will not tolerate the violation of their privacy rights. th the lawyer for the nurses says the women had not talked about medical records, only kennedy's alleged crime. so far the hospital is standing by their nurses' actions and bo both nurses say they remain committed but the incident has taken its toll. >> the violent acts of one man

have changed my perspective. personally i've been traumatized and i find myself sometimes crying for no reason. and then i remember he gave me that reason. >> >> that was jonathan dienst reporting. douglas kennedy is the tenth child of robert and ethel kennedy and has recently worked as a reporter and most for fox news. >% >> that's news 4 at 4:00. news 4 at 5:00 starts right no now. a big day in the news. in annapolis. good evening. i'm pat lawson muse. >> i'm jim handly. any minute now governor o'malley will sign a bill legalizing same sex marriage in the state of maryland. pit it makes maryland the eighth state in the country to have su such a law. news 4's derrick ward is live in annapolis with the latest.

>> we are now awaiting the signature you talked about. this is either a setback for the institution of marriage or a institution %f marriage or a victory for equality. a momentous day here in annapolis for supporters of marriage equality as governor o'malley signs maryland's pv version into law that will join seven other states in the district of columbia recognizing same sex unions. and supporters won't be resting on their laurels for long because opponents have already begun gearing up for a fight at the polls this fall. now they are built up by a statistic. 31 states have passed something in the legislature to see it undone by opposing ballot initiatives. supporters are confident maryland will be the first state to buck that trend. but for now it's all about savoring the victory. >> i remember lobbying last year and this year to pass this. so this is a great day for all marylanders. >> there are a lot of gay and lesbian couples ac